Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff visited the White House on at least a half-dozen social occasions, including Hanukkah celebrations, receptions and one meeting with Bush that included 20 other participants. Abramoff never lobbied or attempted to influence Mr. Bush on behalf of his clients, said a source familiar with the visits, but did have his picture taken with the president, as did hundreds of other visitors attending those events over a four-year period. The meeting with Mr. Bush included some policy discussions "that were not relevant" to any of Abramoff's clients, the source said, but it focused on the audience's asking the president questions. "The White House is making too much of a mystery out of this and needs to release the dates, times, details and photos of the visits," the source said. "It's not like [Abramoff and Mr. Bush] were plotting to overthrow Iraq." The call to release the information was echoed on yesterday's political talk shows by Republican lawmakers, who ... http://www.washtimes.com

Hundreds of available trucks, boats, planes and federal officers were unused in search and rescue efforts immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit because FEMA failed to give them missions, new documents show. Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency called off its search and rescue operations in Louisiana three days after the Aug. 29 storm because of security issues, according to an internal FEMA e-mail given to Senate investigators. The documents, released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, are further evidence of lapses in FEMA's response to Katrina. They also detail breakdowns in carrying out the National Response Plan, which was issued a year ago specifically to coordinate response efforts during disasters....http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1555691&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Sen. Barack Obama, the freshman Democrat from Illinois who is one of his party's brightest stars, chided his party yesterday for its "over-reliance" on "procedural maneuvers" such as the fruitless filibuster threats against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. "We need to recognize -- because Judge Alito will be confirmed -- that if we're going to oppose a nominee, that we've got to persuade the American people that, in fact, their values are at stake," he said yesterday on ABC's "This Week." "I think that the Democrats have to do a much better job in making their case on these issues," he said. "These last-minute efforts, using procedural maneuvers inside the Beltway, I think, has been the wrong way of going about it." Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, seemed to agree. "I think a filibuster makes sense when you have a prospect of actually succeeding," he said on CNN's "Late Edition." ...http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060130-123151-5630r.htm

Fire broke out Sunday in a mine in central Canada, forcing some 70 miners trapped underground to retreat to emergency refuge rooms stocked with oxygen and supplies, a mine official said. Late Sunday, a rescue team reached one of the rooms, made sure everyone was safe, then closed them back inside until the air inside the mine could be cleared of toxic gases, said Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Company, the Minneapolis-based firm that operates the potash mine. Hamilton said company officials had not been able to establish a radio link with the 30 miners in that room for about 18 hours. He said the rescue team took a roll call and checked the miners' health before leaving. "I won't kid you, there was a lot of relief in that," Hamilton said. Rayanne Hogshaw, sister of one of the trapped workers, said it was nerve-wracking waiting for news about her brother. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1555912&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

James Comey, a lanky, 6-foot-8 former prosecutor who looks a little like Jimmy Stewart, resigned as deputy attorney general in the summer of 2005. The press and public hardly noticed. Comey's farewell speech, delivered in the Great Hall of the Justice Department, contained all the predictable, if heartfelt, appreciations. But mixed in among the platitudes was an unusual passage. Comey thanked "people who came to my office, or my home, or called my cell phone late at night, to quietly tell me when I was about to make a mistake; they were the people committed to getting it right—and to doing the right thing—whatever the price. These people," said Comey, "know who they are. Some of them did pay a price for their commitment to right, but they wouldn't have it any other way." ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079547/site/newsweek/

Newly inaugurated President Evo Morales is inspiring tremendous hope among his overwhelmingly poor citizens with promises to build a "new Bolivia." But as the latest socialist to ride Latin America's surging leftist tide into power, he faces a tough task in remaking the "old Bolivia." It is one of South America's poorest nations. Officials are corrupt, roads are crumbling. Hospitals are decrepit. Racism against the Indian majority is severe. Still, Bolivians have a big reason for renewed hope: The nation's proven natural gas reserves have increased substantially in recent years, giving it Latin America's second-largest supply after Venezuela. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1554585&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312